12 May 2011 12:25:00
Arsene Wenger and Pat Rice
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EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent
Arsenal are lining up Phil Parkinson to replace Pat Rice as Arsene Wenger’s new assistant manager, Goal.com can reveal.
Wenger wants the former Reading midfielder, who was sacked as Charlton Athletic manager in January, to succeed Rice as his No.2.
Parkinson has been working for the club in a scouting role in recent weeks and is highly regarded within the game as a coach and motivator. He is believed to have rejected other offers to work for Arsenal.
Rice’s contract expires this summer and he is widely expected to be forced into retirement due to a chronic knee injury.
The northern Irishman, 62, has been part of the Arsenal coaching set-up since 1984 and has been Wenger’s assistant throughout the Frenchman’s 15-year reign at the club, although first-team coach Boro Primorac is generally regarded as his most trusted ally.
Goal.com understands that Wenger has accepted the need to shake up his coaching staff following a season that has disintegrated in recent months and will end in a sixth consecutive year without a trophy.
Although Wenger has said that he wants Rice to sign a new deal, he has privately accepted that his long-time assistant will not be at Emirates Stadium next season.
The Arsenal boss has given consideration to appointing someone from within the club, including reserve team manager Neil Banfield and youth team boss Steve Bould, but is coming around to the view that it might be best to appoint an outsider with fresh ideas.
Parkinson has had a chequered time in management since bringing down the curtain on a fine career as a midfielder in the lower divisions.
He led Colchester United to promotion to the Championship in 2006 despite having the lowest average attendance in the division but immediately left to take the reins at Hull City, which ended six months later with the second-tier club in the relegation zone.
Parkinson then joined Charlton as Alan Pardew’s No.2 in January 2007 and took over the manager’s job in November 2008, initially on a caretaker basis. Under his management, Charlton were relegated to the third tier for the first time in 30 years and he was sacked by the League One club in January following two months without a league victory.
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